{{Short description|Prime Minister of Estonia from 1997 to 1999}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Mart Siimann | image = Siimann Mart.IMG 2960.JPG | office1 = Prime Minister of Estonia | term_start1 = 17 March 1997 | term_end1 = 25 March 1999 | president1 = Lennart Meri | predecessor1 = Tiit Vähi | successor1 = Mart Laar | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1946|09|21}} | birth_place = Kilingi-Nõmme, then part of Estonian SSR, Soviet Union<!--USSR must be mentioned (see talk:Manual of Style/Infoboxes#RFC: Baltic states birth infoboxes)--> | death_date = | death_place = | party = Estonian Coalition Party | alma_mater = University of Tartu | caption = Siimann in 2010 }} '''Mart Siimann''' (born 21 September 1946) is an Estonian politician. He was Prime Minister of Estonia from 1997 to 1999 as a member of the Estonian Coalition Party, and President of the Estonian Olympic Committee from 2001 to 2012.
== Early life == Mart Siimann was born in Kilingi-Nõmme on 21 September 1946. He graduated from high school in Tartu in 1965 and received a degree in philology and psychology from the University of Tartu in 1971. He then began working as a government psychologist until 1975 when he became a senior researcher at the University of Tartu.<ref name="Miljan 2015">{{Cite book |last=Miljan |first=Toivo |title=Historical Dictionary of Estonia |date=2015 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8108-7513-5 |edition=2nd |page=418 |chapter=Siimann Mart (1946–)}}</ref>
Siimann left his research job at the University of Tartu in 1982 to work in the media. He worked for Eesti Televisioon until 1987 when he became director of Eesti Raadio. He then returned to Eesti Televisioon as its leader in 1989, and the same year he was elected to serve on the Tallinn City Council. He left Eesti Televisioon in 1992 to be managing director of Advertising Television Co. TV, where he worked until 1995. He was elected to the VIII Riigikogu that year and became chair of the Estonian Coalition Party.<ref name="Miljan 2015" />
== Prime Minister of Estonia == Siimann succeeded Tiit Vähi as Prime Minister of Estonia on 17 March 1997.<ref name="Miljan 2015" /> Siimann's Coalition Party formed a government with the Estonian Country People's Party. Also joining with the smaller {{Ill|Progressive Party (Estonia)|lt=Progressive Party|et|Arengupartei}}, Siimann led a centrist coalition.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pettai |first=Vello |last2=Hallik |first2=Klara |date=2002 |title=Understanding processes of ethnic control: segmentation, dependency and co–optation in post–communist Estonia |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1469-8219.00063 |journal=Nations and Nationalism |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=505–529 |doi=10.1111/1469-8219.00063 |issn=1354-5078|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Siimann advocated that Estonia join NATO and integrate with the Western European economy, but he also declared his intention to normalize Estonia–Russia relations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Black |first=J.L. |date=1999 |title=Russia and NATO Expansion Eastward: Red-Lining the Baltic States |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/002070209905400204 |journal=International Journal: Canada's Journal of Global Policy Analysis |volume=54 |issue=2 |page=252 |doi=10.1177/002070209905400204 |issn=0020-7020|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Only half of his cabinet were party officials, with the other half made up of technocrats. This meant that there was very little shuffling of the cabinet, and there were three changes in total throughout Siimann's premiership, but it also meant that interest groups were able to secure influence among the politically-unaffiliated cabinet members. He also allowed civil servants to attend cabinet meetings and encouraged discourse between members of the cabinet.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sootla |first=Georg |last2=Müller-Rommel |first2=Ferdinand |chapter=Estonia |editor-last=Blondel |editor-first=Jean |editor-last2=Müller-Rommel |editor-first2=Ferdinand |title=Cabinets in Eastern Europe |date=2001 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-4039-0521-5}}</ref> Siimann's term as prime minister ended on 25 March 1999 when the 1999 parliamentary election allowed Mart Laar to form a government.<ref name="Miljan 2015" />
== Post-premiership == After leaving politics, Siimann became president of the Estonian Olympic Committee in 2001, holding the position until 2012.<ref name="Miljan 2015" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{Commons category-inline}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box | before=Tiit Vähi | title=Prime Minister of Estonia | years=1997 - 1999| after=Mart Laar}} {{succession box|before=Tiit Nuudi|title=President of Estonian Olympic Committee|years=2001–2012|after=Neinar Seli}} {{S-end}} {{EstonianPMs}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siimann, Mart}} Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:People from Kilingi-Nõmme Category:Politicians from Pärnu County Category:Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Category:Estonian Coalition Party politicians Category:Prime ministers of Estonia Category:Members of the Riigikogu, 1995–1999 Category:Members of the Riigikogu, 1999–2003 Category:Estonian television personalities Category:Estonian radio personalities Category:Estonian referees and umpires Category:21st-century Estonian politicians Category:University of Tartu alumni Category:Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 2nd Class